I am a long time C++ programmer. The customer wants to go to the web. Time for me to learn Java.

Java Virtual Machine

I just read this blurb that the Java Virtual Machine will support languages with dynamic languages. Huh? Is Sun saying that Java will have dynamic typing. If so, why don't they come out and say so instead of talking about the JVM?

The truth behind this strange statement is that the JVM is not the same as Java. The JVM is a program which executes byte code. Java is a programming language. Now it just so happens that Java gets translated down into bytecode, and the JVM runs that code. However the key is that other languages can be translated into bytecode as well.

I understand that a flavor of Lisp has a compiler which translates the source into bytecode. It currently runs fine in the default JVM from Sun. Who knows? Maybe Sun Microsystems is looking to release some other important programming language. For now I am concentrating on Java.